Trench-digging machine.



C. B. WESTON.

THENCH DIGGING MACHINE. APPLICATION man MAR..|1.1911.

1 ,247, 1 9 1 Patented N 0V. 20, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

y? 00611161106 mlON/f @Mun/new C. B. WESTON.

TRENCH DIGGING MACHINE. APlLlcATmN FILED MAR. 11, 19|?.

` Paten-ted Nov. 20, 1917. 4

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

as aay- CLARENCE B. WESTON. OF MARION. OHIO. ASSIGNOR TO THE MARION STEAM SHOVEL COMPANY, 0F MARION, OHIO. A CORPORATION OF OHIO. i

{FRENCH-DIGGING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.' Patentgd NGV; 2G, 1917,

Application mea March 17, i917. serial No. i55,413. Y

To all whom it may concern.' Y

Be it known that I, CLARENCE B. WESTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Marion, in the county of Marion and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trench-Digging Machines, of which the following is a specilication, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to trench digging machines and the object of the invention is to provide a machine which will dig the trench, lay the pipe and lill the trench over the'laid pipe; and which will deposit the earth, removed in forming the trench, in that partof the trench 'in which the pipe has been laid, thus excavating the trench and fillingV the same with a single handling of the earth. A further object of the inventionis to provide means whereby the hoisting devices of the excavating mechanism ,may be utilized in laying the pipe, which is frequently of great weight, It is also an object of the invention to so construct the machine that the trench can be dug and the pipe laid without the necessity of bracing the walls of the trench, thus effecting a great savingV of time and money. It is also an object of the invention to provide a mechanism of this kind in which an ordinary power operated shovel maybe used as the excavating part of the mechanism.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of a trench digging machine embodying my invention; Fig-2 is a plan view of the truck showing the base of the excavating device thereon; and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the truck.

In these drawings I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention and have shown the same as comprising an elongated 'truck 1 adapted to span the trench and hav y ing its greatest length extending V:transversely to the trench. This truck is provided near its ends with rollers 2 by means of which-'it can be'moved'back rand lforth along the line 'of thetrench; These rollers may be of anysuitable character, but are, inthe present construction, shown as having flanges to permitltliem to. travel 4on rails,

'By placing the supporting rollers near the ends of the elongated truck the weight of the truclnvand the mechanism carried thereby,

isvlocated on the ground at points remote from the walls ofthe trench and consequently the vibration and stra-ins due to the operation of the excavating mechanism are so far removedfrom the walls of the trench that they will not tend to loosen the earth and cause it to slide or cave into the trench.

Consequently I am able to dig trenches vof very considerable depth withoutthe use of bracing of any kind for the walls thereof. In this manner I not only save the time and material necessary to effect the bracing of the trench walls, but I materially reduce the number of men necessary to construct the trench and lay the pipe. The truck maybe of any suitable or preferred lconstruction and is hereshown as rectangular in shape and as having front and rear girders la, such as'I-beams, which arev connected one tothe other at their ends by side girders 1b. ,Thesel girders are preferably braced by means of rods arranged diagonally of the respective end portions thereof.

The excavating mechanism is mounted on this truck near its center so that it willbe supported directly above the trench.r In' the present instance the excavating mechanism comprises a rotary steam shovelof ordinary construction.` A steam shovel of this kind comprises a base 3 having axles 4 adapted to carryground wheels or track wheels, and has mounted on this base a revoluble platform 5 on which are mountedthe power mechanism andthe excavating devices. In

the particular shovel here shown thepowei' plant, which is not shown, comprises a steam boiler'and steam engines, but,-of course,y it will be understood thatrany suitable Vpower may be'employed. The excavating devices consist of a boom k6 on whichis mounted a dipper arm 7 having at its lower end an eX.- cavating dipper 8v and which is operated in the usual manner to excavatethe earthr along the VlineV of the trench andto dump the same.

-This excavating meclianismpmay beint'iounted upon the truck inzanyisuitable manner and theY truck. 'here' 'shown-:is .provide'clwith transverse beams 9 arranged below, and secured at their ends to, the front and rear girders of the truck, preferably by means of clips, l0. These beams are provided with recessed blocks, or bearings, ll, arranged to receive the axles of the steam shovel, from which the wheels have been removed, and these axles are firmly secured in the bearing blocks by means of clamping blocks, or straps, l2, which are rigidly secured to 'the supporting beams by means of bolts 13.

inthe operation of the machine, after a section of the trench of suitable length has been dug the machine as a whole is moved rearwardly to the beginning of the section and the pipes are lifted by the hoisting mechanism of the steam shovel and lowered -iiito the trench. This may be accomplished in various ways but a very convenient device which can be readily attached to and detached from the excavating mechanism is shown in the drawings. This device con- -sists in an elongated hook, or goose-neck, lll, vto which is connected a short chain l having at its opposite eid a ring 16 which may be slipped over one of the teeth of the dipper 8. This goose-neck is inserted into the pipe which is to be laid and the dipper is then operated in the usual manner to lift the pipe and lower the same into the trench. rlhis method of laying the pipe also facili- `tates the laying of the pipe to grade. ly leaving a little loose earth in the bottom of fthe trench and then raising the pipe slightly and allowing it to drop a few times the earth imay be packed beneath the pipe to an extent necessary to bring it -to the exact grade, and the packing of the earth will be -suftici'ent to form a firm and uniform support for the pipe, which willv not settle to any'appreciable extent. ln laying the pipe 'along the excavated section of the trench the machine will have been moved to the forvward end of the excavated section thereof and when the last pipe is laid the machine fis ready to again begin the excavating of lanoth'er section of' trench. As each clipper ofV earth is removed from the trench the exn cavati-ng mechanism is rotated through a half 4circle and the earth dumped into the trench Lin the rear of the truck, thus excavating fthe new section of trench and filling that sec- Ltion of the trench in which the pipe has been laid with a single handling of the earth.

'll/hen another section of trench of suitable length has been excavated the machine is finio'ved rearwardly and the pipe laid therein, vl'and theA described operations are repeated "as the work' progresses The truck may be moved along the trench ina'ny suitableV manine'r, :but this can be' accomplished :without Ythe @isset additional rmeehanism .byfplacing tliefdipper .upon the `ground varr-one sideof fthe trench-and then operating the crowding ..ineehanism on .tliezhoom toextenrl-the dipper to receive the axles of said baseanil scure-the 'same' tothe `triiclx handle. `rThe dipper being held against movement the truck and the excavating mechanism carried thereby will be ymoved along the track. l'nasmuch as the dipper can be placed on the ground either in front of the truck or in the rear thereof it will be obvious that the truck can be moved in the desired direction. K

The operation of the machine has been fully described in connection with the description of the several parts thereof and it will heapparent that l have provided anexcavating machine which is very simple in its construction andis of such a character that an ordinary power shovel can be used as the excavating mechanism thereof. thus enabling a contractor, at a slight additional cost, to convert his power sh vel into a highly etticient trenching machine. lt will further be apparent that the operations of digging the' trench7 laying the pipe and filling the trench are accomplished in such a manner that the work will proceed very rapidly and with great economy not only in time out in labor and in the saving of material. Because of the construction of the machine it causes the strain to be placed upon the ground atpoints remote from the edges of the trench and there is very little likelihood of the walls of the trench caving in. as they are not subjected to strain or vibration7 but should there be a slide .in tha excavated section of the trench, before the pipe is laiddue to the character of the earth 0r other causes, the machine can be readily moved back into a position which will permit this earth to be again removed by it. By eliminating the necessity of bracing the walls of the trench and by utilizing the hoisting devices of the excavating mechanism to lay the pipe l am able to operate the machine as a whole to dig the trencln lay-the'pipe and lill the trench lwith a very small number of men, and to accomplish the work much lfaster lthan it could be done with a larger number of men by tl e old methods.

lWhile l have shown and described one embodiment of my invention l wish it to be understood that l do not desireto be limited to the details of construction shown and described as various modiiications will occur to person skilled in the art.

Having now fully described my invention, what l claim as new7 and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. ln a machine for'digging trenches, the combination with. an excavating mechanism comprising abase having axles, a platform revolubly mounted on said hase,-and excavating devices carried' -by said platform, .of a truck adapte'd'toispan the trench and of :alength greatly in: excess -'of the Vwidth of the trench, 'and devices carried bysaidtruck firmly 2. In a machine for digging trenches, the Width of the trench, and devices carried by combination With an excavating mechanism said truck Vto receive the axles of said base comprising a base having axles, and excavatand firmly secure the same to said truck. 10 ing devices mounted on said base and capa- In testimony whereof, I aiix my signa-` ble of movement through an are of 180 deture hereto. f grees., of a truck adapted to span the trench and of a length greatly in excess of the CLARENCE B. WESTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

